Can Newborn Babies Giggle?

Newborn babies are known to make some unusual facial expressions and funny noises as they learn how their bodies work and start to interact with the world around them. Although some of the sounds your newborn makes might make you giggle, your baby is not quite yet ready to laugh.

  1. Can Newborns Laugh?

    • According to the "What to Expect the First Year" from Workman Publishing, laughter of any kind is not a possible behavior for a newborn. The book includes a chart, which characterizes a number of infant behaviors as "expected," "likely," "possible" or "precocious" for newborns, 1-month-olds and 2-month-olds. Laughter appears in the chart as "precocious" for a 1-month-old baby and "possible" for a 2-month-old baby but isn't listed as a possibility even for a precocious newborn. Newborns are focused on learning how to raise their heads, move their arms and legs and focus their eyes on objects in front of them.

    Reflexive Smiles

    • Newborns sometimes make facial expressions that look much like a smile, but even if these expressions have something to do with their emotional state, they don't seem to be in response to anything in their environment, such as an interaction with a parent. These smiles are known as "reflexive smiles." An infant may smile from contentment after eating or from pleasure after hearing a sound she likes before she is ready to smile at other people.

    Social Smiles

    • According to the University of Illinois Extension, babies first begin to smile at other people at around 6 weeks of age. According to Bright Futures at Georgetown University, babies start to smile at people at around 2 months old. "What to Expect the First Year" also lists 2 months as the earliest age at which babies begin to smile at others.

    First Giggles

    • According to the University of Illinois Extension, babies first start to laugh at around 4 months of age. Bright Futures at Georgetown University notes that babies usually begin to giggle or laugh between the ages of 3 and 6 months. "What to Expect the First Year" lists laughter as an "expected" behavior at 4 months. Even though your newborn probably cannot giggle, your baby will be laughing out loud by her fourth or fifth month, so get ready to play peekaboo.

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